Plan to rid L.A. of Mexican fruit flies

December 23, 2008 6:18:21 AM PST

LOS ANGELES --

Agriculture officials say they've come up with a way to battle L.A. County's Mexican fruit fly infestation.Officials are going to release millions of sterile Mexican fruit flies into areas like Azusa, where the insects have been found.

About 6.5 million sterile flies will be released once a week to stop the crop-destroying insect's reproductive cycle.

The flies lay eggs in fruit, and when the larvae hatch, they eat through the pulp of the fruit and destroy it.